Trunk



(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet I. H. D.,THAC KER.

lTHINK'.

- No. 51'4;099. Patented Feb. 6, 1894:.l

y l @y f` J' v I ,@@UUHWL H NITED STATESV PATENT Orrrcno HENRYKD. THACKER, OF PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA.

TRUNK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentvNo. 514,099, dated February fis 1894.

' Application flled July 7, 1893. Serial No. 479,800. (No model.) I

.To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY D. THACKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Petersburg, Dinwiddie county, and State of Virglnia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trunks; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention has relation to trunks or packing cases, and it has for its object certain irnprovements in the construction of the body of the trunk or case and in the arrangement of the top of the tray relatively to the trunk body and its lid, whereby said tray may be removed or taken out, or simply moved laterally or endwise over the top of the trunk, out of the way, for the purpose of gaining access to the interior thereof. But that my invention may be fully understood, I will describe the same in detail, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in Whicl1 Figure 1 is an end elevation of a trunk embodying my improvements, the trunk lid being shown open and the tray in 'its normal position in full lines, and in its position for endwise movement in dotted lines, respectively. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the trunk, the lid being shown open and the tray moved out of the way laterally, uncovering the trunk body. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section about on line .fr-oc of Fig. l, looking toward the front. Fig. 4 is an under side perspective of the top tray.

As more clearly shown in Fig. 1, the trunk T consists of a box that is of polygonal form, cut horizontally on the line 2 2 and vertically on the line 2 3, in such manner as to form a rear vertical projection 4;V that portion of the trunk cut away on the lines-2 2 and 2 3, constituting the lid L, that is hinged in any usual or preferred manner to the rear vertical projection 4 at its upper front edge, spacel at the back of the trunk being thus provided for the lid to tilt back far enough to be held in its open position without projecting beyond the rear edge of the trunk, so

that it can be set against a wall, and the lid opened to gain access thereto, making said trunk what is known as a Wall trunk.

Theend walls 5,'of the trunk body have secured thereto cleats 6 and 7, flush with the horizontal line 2 2 or upper edge of said end walls, said cleats supporting the top tray T,

while the cleat at the end of the trunk where said tray slides out endwise, as the cleat 7, is provided with rollers 8, so that said traymay be moved laterally or endwise out of the trunk with greater facility than would be the guide groove 14 that extends from the left toward the right for a suitable distance, said groove and overhanging ledge 12, also serving as bearings for the tray in its endwise movements and asa means for holding the tray when moved endwise out of the trunk. The tray T', which may be fitted with a lid if desired, is ot' suitable dimensions to be contained in the trunk lid L, when closed, as usual, and as shown, the forward portion of said tray is ot less depth than the rear portion,-whereby an oft-set t2 is formed that will permit the tray to slide forward to bring the same in position to slide endwise past the vertical rear projection 4. At the rear end of the off-set on the right hand side, is a tongue t', adapted to engage the groove 14 on the under side of the overhanging ledge l2, at the upper edge of the front wall 10 of the trunk, said tongue being of a length equal to the space between the right hand end of said ledge 12 and the beginning ofthe groove 14, so that when the tray T is pulled out to the frontwall, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the tongue t will be in register with said groove 14,'and thus permit the tray to move toward the left. rI he rollers 8 pivoted in cleat 7 are nearly flush with the upper face of said cleat, the periphery of said rollers projecting above said upper face just suiii- IOO ciently to form rolling bearings for the tray, which can thus be moved endwise with great ease.

To prevent the tray T from moving completely out of the trunk I provide a cleat c on the under side of said tray, which cleat abuts against the left hand end wall of the trunk or the cleat 7 secured thereto when the tray has been pulled out laterally, and when in this position it is supported by the overhanging ledge 12. Asecond cleat c to the right of cleat c prevents the tray from moving onto and over the right hand end wall. If it is desired to remove the tray T from the trunk when in its normal position, it is simply necessary to lift the forward end of said tray sufficiently high so that, when pulled out, the bottom in rear of the off-set t2 and the cleats c, c will clear the overhanging ledge 12.

Although I have shown the truuk as a fiat top trunk, it is evident that its top may be made convex it' desired.

From the description and illustration of my invention it will be seen that I provide a wall trunk with a roomy detachable and endwise movable top tray without, or practically without loss of space, and by making the top tray movable endwise and so arranging the stop that limits said endwise motion that said tray can be almost completely moved out of the trunk, I uncover the greater portion thereof, so that practically unobstructed access is had to the interior.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A trunk having its front wall extended above the end walls thereof and provided with a longitudinal guide groove in combination with a tray supported ush with the upper face of said end walls, said tray having mo tion toward and partly over as well as along said front wall, and provided with a tongue adapted to engage the aforesaid groove when said tray has reached the limit of its forward motion and end wise motion is imparted thereto, for the purpose set forth.

2. Atrunk provided at each end with a cleat iiush with the upper face of its end walls and a front wall projecting above said end walls and provided with a longitudinal groove extending partly along its inner face, of a tray having motion on the cleats toward the front wall, said tray odset to adapt the same to move partly over said front wall and provided with a tongue adapted to register with the aforesaid groove when the tray has reached the limit of its forward motion for the purpose of guiding the tray when endwise motion isimparted thereto.

3. A trunk provided at each end with cleats Hush with the upper edge of its end walls, and with a front wall projecting above said end walls, in combination with a tray adapted to move toward and partly over and along said front wali, the latter and the tray provided with interlocking groove and tongue connections adapted to engage each other when the tray has reached the limit of its forward motion and endwise motion is imparted thereto, for the purpose set forth.

4. A trunk provided at each end with cleats flush with the upper edge of its end walls, and with a front wall projecting above said end walls, in combination with a tray adapted to move toward and partly over and along said front wall, the latter and the tray pro vided with interlocking groove and tongue connections adapted to engage each other when the tray has reached the limit of its forward motion and endwise motion is imparted thereto, and an abut ment on the under side of the tray adapted to engage one of the cleats to limit said endwise motion, for the purpose set forth.

5. A trunk having its rear portion extended above the side and front walls, and its front wall above its side walls, said front wall provided with a longitudinal guide groove, in combination with a tray fitting into said rear extension of the trunk and having bearing on its front wall, said tray adapted to move toward and along said front wall over one of the end walls of the trunk, and provided with a tongue adapted to engage the aforesaid groove when at the limit of its forward motion for the purpose of guiding said tray in its endwise motion.

6. A trunk provided with rolling bearings in one of its end walls and with a front wall projecting above said end walls and provided with a longitudinal groove, of a tray supported fiush with the end walls of the trunk and having motion toward and partly over and along the aforesaid front wall, said tray provided with a tongue adapted to engage the longitudinal groove when at the limit of its forward motion, and means for limiting the movement of the tray along the front wall of the trunk.

In testimony whereof I have hereto signed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY D. TI'IACKER.

Vitnesses:

SAML. STEVENS, .I r., MoRToN RIDDLE.

ICO

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